These are the first few sentences from this guide sent to me by a reader. The most important thing for quitting is initiative. Quitting tobacco is the kind of goal we’ll happily sign off on here at SC. Make sure to also check out this Wikipedia article on the subject. And as with everything else, smoking weed will probably make your time quitting slightly less unenjoyable.

Our reader goes on to recommend “vaping” (not the kind we love) as a substitute to real tobacco. I disagree, and think it’s just as bad to be addicted to a vapor pen unless of course you happen to be using it with a cannabis oil, which would be awesome.

Marijuana has been one of the most highly used yet restricted substances known to man, boasting a rich history which has seen it develop from a completely outlawed substance to one that is legally authorized for patients seeking medical relief. It all stems from a groundbreaking article in the New England Journal of Medicine (1975), which backed claims stating that when marijuana was consumed prior to chemotherapy, side-effects of this treatment (including nausea) were greatly reduced or eliminated. Those who are facing painful chronic conditions or harsh treatments often have many questions when they first hear about the possibilities marijuana can yield in terms of relief from pain and side-effects from medication. It is vital that they obtain the objective information they require, but also that they have access to non-psychoactive marijuana that can best enhance its palliative effects without causing unnecessary side-effects. In the following post, we look into the different stages that cannabis use has been through, and discuss the importance of marijuana being placed in its rightful category by the Drug Enforcement Association. Its medical potential should be fully acknowledged, so that greater research efforts can be made to glean the full extent to which medical cannabis can help millions of patients around the world to the fullest extent possible.

It turns out that not every marijuana-related ballot initiative has to face the disgrace of being voted down this electoral season. As of this Friday Arizona approved a measure which allows medical access to marijuana. For more information on this one I’ll defer to the journalists over at the Examiner: With passage of Prop 203, Arizona becomes 15th medical marijuana state

We would love for you to comment on this development, especially if you live in Arizona.

(SALEM, Ore.) – Medical marijuana activists in Oregon are at the state capitol this week opposing SB 388 that would increase police scrutiny of sick people and create more obstacles for those who legally use cannabis for healthcare. Michael Bachara from The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, says advocates are talking about the Human Services and Rural Health Policy. Bachara says it is a critical time to push for the rights of sick people who use medical marijuana. “We need to let our representatives know that we oppose this bill. It would allow law enforcement to inspect our gardens at any time and create even more hoops to jump through and more paperwork that would be a burden not only to the state but also to medical marijuana patients, caregivers and growers throughout the state,” said Anna Diaz of Oregon NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws).Full article.

As explained in this article, a medical marijuana bill has been filed in the Texas House of Representatives. Here is the full text of the bill.

How to help this bill pass (courtesy of Texas NORML):

On February 12, 2009, HB 164 was officially assigned to the Public Health Committee in the Texas House of Representatives. The most exciting part of this committee assignment is that the bill’s author, Rep. Elliott Naishtat (Austin), has been assigned to be Vice Chair of the committee! Also, HB 164 has picked up a co-author, Rep. Lon Burnam (Ft. Worth). If you, or someone you know, uses marijuana for a serious medical condition, and are willing to submit testimony to the Public Health Committee, please contact us as soon as possible (josh@texasnorml.org, 512-585-3846) so that we can coordinate an effective lobbying effort for HB 164.

Who to contact:

House Committee on Public Health – Phone: (512) 463-0806

Contact your representatives and tell them to support this bill. To find out who your State Representatives and Senators are, go here. Enter your address in the “Who Represents Me?” box at the bottom right side of the page.

The justices unanimously denied review of an appellate decision in July that concluded California was free to decide whether to punish drug users under its own laws, despite the federal ban on marijuana.

The decision is “a momentous victory for countless seriously ill patients,” said Adam Wolf, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who defended the state law in the appeals court. He said the counties should stop wasting money “in a doomed effort to undermine the will of California voters.”